Best Chicken Fingers Ever

"Why do I need this recipe?" you ask. "Does she not know that every restaurant on every corner sells chicken fingers? Has she not met the frozen food aisle at the grocery store?"

Because these are the best. That's why.

This is a re-post from my old blog and the dinner my children request the most often. These chicken fingers are so good and so worth the (small) effort of home-cooking — I hope your family loves them as much as we do!

From October 4, 2015

Last Tuesday, Stephen took the day off and we enjoyed a date in the middle of the day! I'd planned a pasta dish for dinner, but we ended up eating {a lot of} Italian for lunch. Feeling less-than-motivated to cook after our lovely mini-vacation in the middle of the week, I wanted Chick-Fil-A, but resisted the temptation to eat out twice in one day. Hence, the chicken fingers.

I've made some good chicken fingers and nuggets before, and we've all had our share of them at restaurants, but the reaction to these was something else. Stephen declared that they were "the best chicken fingers I've ever had," and Caroline, who hates chicken — in all forms, even Chick-Fil-A — loved them and asked me to make them again soon. They were such a hit that I made them again on Saturday, much to everyone's delight. {Plus, it enabled me to double-check the following recipe.} The Best Chicken Fingers Ever

8-10 boneless, skinless chicken breast tenderloins
1/4 c. bread & butter pickle juice
3/4 c. milk
1 egg

Whisk the pickle juice, milk, and egg together, and pour into a gallon-size Ziploc bag. Add the chicken and marinate for 1-4 hours.

Save the marinade, which will become your egg wash. Remove chicken, place on a paper towel-lined plate, and pat dry. In another gallon-size bag (or shallow dish), mix together the following:

1 c. Bisquick
3 T powdered sugar
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. paprika

You will also need

Vegetable oil, canola oil, or peanut oil for frying

In a large skillet, pour enough oil to fill the pan to about 1/4 inch. Heat over medium-high heat until dropping a bit of Bisquick in the oil sizzles. Keep the oil handy in case you need to add more later. Place 3-4 pieces of chicken at a time in the Bisquick mixture and shake (or turn) to coat. Shake off excess Bisquick mixture, then dip chicken pieces in egg wash, and then return chicken to Bisquick mixture and shake (or turn) to coat again. These babies are ready for frying! Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to fry in batches so that the pieces are not touching each other as they cook. Fry for 3-4 minutes per side, turning when a side is a rich brown color. Watch carefully, so that they don't burn, and if they seem to be browning too quickly, turn down the heat a bit — we want those fingers cooked through {zero pink} without getting burned on the outside. As you can see, we ate ours with biscuits — cheater biscuits, as I call them — Mary B's, fabulous from the freezer section. I also made a honey-mustard dipping sauce. I actually like it better with plain Greek yogurt, but all I had was sour cream, which certainly worked in a pinch. Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce